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Chapter 10 Notes AP Human Geography
Chapter 10 Notes AP Human Geography
A. Origins of Agriculture.
a. Agriculture – Modification of Earth’s surface through cultivation of plants and rearing of
animals for sustenance or economic gain.
(1) Originated when humans domesticated plants and animals.
b. Crop – Any plant cultivates by humans.
2. Invention of Agriculture
a. Originated in multiple hearths.
(1) Southwest Asia
i. Barely, rice, lentil, and olive
ii. 10,000 years ago
iii. Diffused East, rice, millet, sorghum, and yam
(2) Latin America
i. 4,000 to 5,000 years ago
ii. Mexico – beans and cotton, Peru – potato
iii. Maize
b. Animals were also domesticated in many hearths.
(1) Southwest Asia
i. Cattle, goats, pigs, sheep
ii. 8,000 to 9,000 years ago
iii. Dog – 12,000 years ago
iv. Horse – Central Asia
c. First used animals to cultivate the land and were later used to sell leather and milk.
d. Both environmental and cultural factors contributed to agriculture.
(1) Those who favor environmental reference climate change around 10,000
years ago. (End of last ice age)
(2) Those who favor cultural say that humans preferred living in a fixed place.
e. People noticed that discarded food and berries grew into new plants. Later
generations learned to use water and manure.
f. Improved communications have increased diffusion of plants around the world.
1. Purpose of Farming
a. In LDCs, farmers grow food for themselves. Excess food may be sold to the
government.
b. Agricultural products from commercial farming are not sold directly to the
consumer, but to food-processing companies, such as General Mills and Kraft.
3. Use of Machinery
a. MDCs can feed a lot more people because they use machines, whereas in LDCs,
farmers much work by hand.
b. First equipment was made by wood.
(1) All-iron plow was made in the 1770s
c. Transportation improvements have aided commercial farming.
(1) Cattle arrive healthy because they are not driven on hoof
(2) Crops reach the market without spoiling
d. Commercial farmers use scientific research.
(1) Hybrid plants, fertilizers, animal breeds
e. Electronics help commercial farmers.
(1) GPS
i. Coordinates for spreading fertilizers
ii. Monitoring cows
4. Farm Size
a. Commercial farms are large.
(1) 180 hectares (449 acres)
(2) Family owned
(3) Frequently rent nearby fields
b. Farms are larger because of newer equipment.
c. Although the US has fewer farmers, the amount of farmland is increasing.
(1) Declined from its all-time peak in 1960s because of expansion of urban
areas.
d. Prime Agricultural Land – The most productive farmland.
A. Shifting Cultivation
a. Humid Low-Latitude, or A, climate regions.
b. High temperatures and rainfall
c. Tropical rainforests of South America, Central and West Africa, and Southeast Asia.
B. Pastoral Nomadism
a. Pastoral Nomadism – Form of subsistence agriculture based on herding of domesticated
animals.
b. Pastoral means sheepherding.
c. Live in arid lands
(1) Central and Southwest Asia, and North Africa
i. The Bedouins of Saudi Arabia and North Africa
ii. The Masai of East Africa
(2) 20% of land
- Choice of Animals
a. According to cultural and physical characteristics.
b. Camel is the best in North Africa and Southwest Asia, along with goats and
sheep. The horse is preferred in Central Asia.
c. Family needs 25-60 goats or sheep, or 10-25 camels
Camel
a. Go long periods without water, carry heavy loads, and move fast.
b. Bothered by flies and sleep-sickness and take a long time (1
year) to give birth.
Goats
a. Tough, agile, and can survive on any vegetation
b. Need more water than camels
Sheep
a. Slow, affected by climate changes, require more water, and are
picky eaters
D. Plantation Farming
a. Form of commercial farming found in the tropics and subtropics.
(1) Located in LDCs, but run by European corporations for MDCs.
(2) Crops are normally processed here.
b. Plantation – Large farm that specializes in one or two crops.
(1) Cotton, sugarcane, coffee, rubber, and tobacco
(2) Cocoa, jute, bananas, tea, coconuts, and palm oil
(3) Latin America – Coffee, sugarcane, and bananas
(4) Asia – rubber and palm oil
(5) Crops such as tobacco, cotton, and sugarcane, which can only be planted once a
year, are less likely to be on a large plantation than in the past.
c. Sparsely settled locations
(1) Import workers and provide them food, shelter, and service
d. Until the Civil War, plantations were important in the US South.
(1) Principle crop was cotton, tobacco, and sugarcane
(2) Demand for cotton increased after textile factories in Europe opened and Eli
Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793.
1. Crop Rotation
a. The farm is divided into multiple fields that are planted on a planned cycle, often
several years.
b. Helps maintain fertility of a field.
c. Overall production in shifting cultivation is lower than commercial mixed farming
because not all of the fields are being used.
d. Cereal grain – Oats, wheat, rye, or barley.
e. A two-field crop-rotation system was developed in Northern Europe in the 5 th
century.
(1) A cereal grain was planted in Field A one year, while Field B was left fallow.
The next year, Field B was planted and A was not.
f. In the 8th century, a three-field system was used.
(1) The first field was planted with a winter cereal, the next with a spring
cereal, and the other left fallow.
(2) This led to each field giving four harvests in 6 years instead of only three.
g. A four-field system was used in Europe in the 18th century.
(1) Field A – Root (turnip)
Field B – Cereal (wheat)
Field C – Rest (regains nutrients, clover)
Field D – Cereal (barley)
B. Dairy Farming
a. Most important commercial farming near large urban areas (NE US, SE Canada, and NW
Europe).
(1) Important also in South and East Asia
b. Rising incomes allowed people to buy milk, which was once a luxury.
C. Grain Farming
a. Grain – Seeds from various grasses, such as wheat, corn, oats, barley, rice, millet, and
others.
b. Mostly the major crop on most farms.
c. Grown for humans rather than livestock.
d. Most important crop is wheat.
(1) Sold for a higher price because it is used more.
e. World’s leading export crop.
f. Largest producer of grain is the US.
(1) Also in Canada, Argentina, Australia, France and the UK.
g. Winter-wheat – Wheat planted in the autumn and harvested in the early summer.
h. Spring-wheat – Wheat planted in the spring and harvested in the late summer.
i. Within North America, farming is concentrated in 3 area:
The Winter Wheat Belt through Kansas, Colorado, and Oklahoma. Survives winter
because it is insulated under the snow.
The Spring Wheat Belt through the Dakotas, Montana, and Southern Saskatchewan in
Canada. Winters are to severe so they are planted in the spring.
The Palouse region of Washington State.
j. Reaper – To cut grain standing in the field.
k. The McCormick reaper (1830s) allowed large-scale wheat production.
l. Combine – Reaping, threshing, and cleaning.
m. Some firms may have 2 sets of fields in the spring and winter belt.
(1) The same machinery can be used in both places so it won’t cost as much.
D. Livestock Ranching
a. Ranching – Commercial grazing of livestock over an extensive area.
b. Semiarid land in MDCs where soil is too poor for crops.
c. Dominated commercial agriculture from 1867 to 1885.
d. Expanded during the 1860s.
(1) East coast cities would pay $30 instead of $3.
(2) Driven by hoof until they got to the railroad.
i. Most famous route was the Chishlom Trail
(i) Began near Brownsville at the Mexican border through Texas
e. Declined in importance during the 1880s.
(1) Came into conflict with sedentary farmers
(2) “The Code of the West”
ii. Ranchers had range rights
(i) Their cattle could graze on open land and scarce water.
iii. When the government started selling land, ranchers did not have any right to
it.
(i) They tried to get their land back, illegally.
((i)) They cut down fences
(((i))) Farmers would use barbed wire (1873) and won.
E. Mediterranean Agriculture
a. Lands that border the Mediterranean Sea and also in California, Chile, South Africa,
and Australia.
b. All on the west coast of continents.
(1) Sea winds provide moisture and temperature
(2) Hilly regions
c. Get most of the income from crops than animals. That is because it is hard to raise
animals during the winter.
d. Although less common, transhumance is the practice of moving animals to coastal plains
in the winter and hills in the summer.
e. Most crops are grown for human consumption, rather than animals.
f. Horticulture – Growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
g. A combination of physical and cultural characteristics determine what is grown.
h. In the lands bordering the Sea, the most important crops are olives and grapes. Wine is
also produced. Half of the land is also used for growing grains for pasta and bread.
i. Seeds are planted in the fall and harvested in early summer.
j. Cereal is grown the least in California.
(1) Grow fruits and vegetables.
(2) Rapid growth of urban areas have converted high-quality land into housing
developments.
3. Sustainable Agriculture
a. Sustainable agriculture – Agricultural processes that enhances environmental quality.
b. Typically generate lower costs but costs less.
c. Organic Farming
(1) Large farms rely on nonsustainable practices such as burning fossil fuels.
(2) Worldwide 0.24% of farmland is organic
i. Australia is the leader
Sensitive land management
Limited use of chemicals
Better integration of crop and livestock
3. Drug Crops
a. Some export crops from LDCs can be turned into drugs.
b. Marijuana is the leading drug
c. The UN says that 4 million people survive on the sale of opium.
d. Afghanistan is the source of 80% of the world’s opium, which is used to make heroin.
e. Most consumers are in central Asia.
f. Much of the making and processing of cocaine is done in Colombia.
g. The majority of marijuana that reaches the US is from Mexico (from the Cannabis
sativa plant)
(1) Not expanding worldwide like opium poppies and coca leaves are
2. Increasing Productivity
a. New agricultural practices allow farmers to harvest more crops from the same
amount of land.
b. Green revolution – The invention and rapid diffusion of more productive agricultural
techniques during the 1970s and 1980s.
(1) Introduction of new higher-yield seeds
(2) Expanded use of fertilizers
c. Scientists began a study in the 1950s to develop a better wheat. A decade later the
“miracle wheat seed” was made.
(1) Less sensitive to variation in day lengths
(2) Responded better to fertilizers
(3) Matured faster
d. The Rockefeller and Ford sponsored.
e. The program’s director, Dr. Norman Borlaug, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970.
f. The International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines worked to create a
miracle rice. During the 1960s, they created a hybrid of Indonesian and Taiwan rice.
g. Recently, scientists have developed new corn.
h. The new seeds diffused rapidly around the world.
i. Farmers have known for thousands of years that manure, bones, and ash help the
fertility of the land. Only recently did scientists identify nitrogen, phosphorus, and
potassium, as well.
j. Nitrogen
(1) Most important
(2) China is the leading producer
(3) Europe – Urea
(4) America – Ammonia gas
(5) Expensive for LDCs
i. LDCs need machines to make better use
k. Phosphorus is found in China, Morocco, and US.
l. Potassium is found in Canada, Russia, and Ukraine.
- Cultivating Oceans
a. 2/3 of fish are consumed by humans, the other by pigs
b. The world’s annual fish catch increased in the late 20 th century, but some
fish species declined.
c. Overfishing occurs in North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
d. The world fish catch has remained constant since the 1980s despite
population growth.
e. To protect fishing areas, countries claim control up to 200 nautical miles
- Developing Higher-Protein Cereals
a. People in MDCs get protein from meat. LDCs rely on wheat, corn, and rice.
- Improving Palatability of Rarely Consumed Foods
a. People chose food based on local characteristics and religious beliefs.
b. A third way to make use of global resources is to encourage the consumption
of foods that are avoided because of social reasons.
c. The soybean in North America
(1) It is one of the leading crops
(2) Most is used for animals because humans don’t eat foods that are like
soybeans
(3) However, burgers, hot dogs, and oils contain soybeans
(4) In Asia, protein drinks contain soybeans.
d. Krill could be an important source of food from the ocean.
(1) They have increased because of whale hunting
(2) The Soviet Union used krill to feed animals
(3) It does not taste good.
4. Increasing Trade
a. The top three grain exports are wheat, corn, and rice.
b. Few countries are major exporters, but they make enough to cover the gap.
c. Before WWII, Western Europe used to import grains.
d. Asia became a grain importer in the 1950s.
e. Eastern Europe in the 1960s.
f. Latin America in the 1970s.
g. By 1980, North America was the only main grain exporter.
h. Because of the increasing need for food imports, the US passed Public Law 480, the
Agricultural, Trade, and Assistance Act of 1954 (PL-480)
(1) Title I – Provided sale of grain at low interest rates
(2) Title II – Gave grants to needy people